Scottish Executive

Cancer

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made at the Beatson Oncology Centre.

Malcolm Chisholm: On-going recruitment of consultants has resulted in two further recent appointments. An additional £2 million ring-fenced investment will see the recruitment of up to 35 more nurses and other clinical support posts, additional and replacement equipment and the commissioning of additional space for chemotherapy at Gartnavel Hospital.

  NHS Greater Glasgow published a comprehensive progress report on Monday 4 March 2002. The published agenda, papers and minutes of the NHS Greater Glasgow Board also document the position at 19 March when the report of the Expert Review Team was considered. Progress is also being made on the preparation of the full business case to support the Phase II West of Scotland Cancer Centre at Gartnavel.

Childcare

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to improve the professional standing of those working in, or entering, all areas of the childcare sector.

Cathy Jamieson: Both the Childcare Strategy and the Action Plan for the Training and Development of Workers in Early Education, Childcare and Playwork set out the Executive’s commitment to increasing the professional standing of the childcare workforce by supporting their training and development. The action plan has been supported with £4 million over the last two financial years, with a further £9.2 million committed for 2002-04.

  The Executive is also working to provide a greater range of progression routes within the early years sector, and local authorities and other providers have a wide range of options open to them when determining the structure of staffing in pre-school education and childcare. In pre-school education, this flexibility was emphasised by the publication of the Guidance on Teacher Involvement in Pre-School Education in January 2002.

Crime

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes attributed to sectarianism were reported to the police and led to the conviction of the perpetrators in the last 10 years.

Mr Jim Wallace: Crimes attributed to sectarianism are not separately identifiable within the Scottish Executive’s classification of crimes and offences.

Domestic Abuse

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to ensure that its domestic abuse campaign messages are accessible to hearing impaired people.

Ms Margaret Curran: Teletext subtitles have been added to the "Behind Closed Doors" television advertisement in its most recent phase from 25 March.

Education

Elaine Thomson (Aberdeen North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to improve pupil attainment in secondary schools.

Nicol Stephen: The National Priorities for Education have established a framework to raise standards of achievement.

  Each local authority must prepare an education improvement plan. Schools - in their school development plans - will set targets for improvement in attainment. They will publish their plans and evaluate their performance. Other measures such as the Early Intervention programme and our literacy and numeracy initiatives will ensure that the attainment of pupils is already significantly improved when they start secondary school.

Exports

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to support exporters.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In October 2001 the Scottish Executive launched the Global Connections Strategy which set out the Executive’s aims for future international economic development activity. This strategy led to the creation of Scottish Development International.

  Scottish Development International offers a wide range of services to support Scottish exporters. Through Scottish Development International’s network of overseas offices, British Embassies, Local Export Partnerships and Trade Partners UK, Scottish Development International helps new and existing exporters research new markets, provide generic and custom market research and knowledge to companies and the delivery of customised strategic market entry support.

External Relations

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts are being made to forge links with Scottish branches of clubs and societies throughout the world.

Dr Elaine Murray: The Scottish Executive and its linked bodies are actively developing networks of many kinds throughout the world with organisations which have a Scottish focus. For example, links are being built with the American Scottish Foundation and the network of St Andrew’s societies throughout the US, and Scottish Enterprise through its Global Scot initiative is creating networks of successful Scots across the world with the aim of harnessing their business expertise to assist Scotland’s economic development agenda.

Fisheries

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of consultations set out in the green paper Scotland’s freshwater fish and fisheries: Securing their future will be published.

Allan Wilson: I am currently considering the outcome of the recent consultation exercise with my officials. My decisions will be published once that consideration is complete.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set for the maximum time between the receipt of a valid application for the payment of grant aid under the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance scheme and the issue of grant aid and what percentage of applications were paid within that time in the last year for which the information is available.

Ross Finnie: The aim is for an initial check on payment claims to be carried out within 30 working days of receipt. If all the requisite documentation is in place 75% of the claimed amount is paid. The balance is paid as soon as a satisfactory physical inspection/survey of the project has been carried out by an Executive surveyor. That payment is normally made within 10 working days of receipt of a satisfactory inspection report. The vast majority of payments have been made in line with these targets. At this stage, a definitive analysis of the data, however, could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

Football

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Executive is taking to ensure that no jobs are lost following the collapse of the proposed SPL-TV.

Mr Jack McConnell: The commercial contracts for TV coverage of Scottish football are a matter for the football clubs and the football bodies. We hope that an early resolution will be reached which is in the best interests of Scottish football and its supporters.

Housing

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what future improvements in Glasgow’s housing stock can be expected following the vote in favour of the transfer of the stock to the Glasgow Housing Association.

Iain Gray: The transfer will bring real benefits to tenants in the form of fully modernised, secure houses and guaranteed rent levels. The investment programme will include affordable central heating, new windows and modern kitchens and bathrooms as well as external and environmental improvements. In addition, those tenants living in the worst housing stock will be able to move to new high quality rented accommodation.

Land

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of (a) contaminated, (b) derelict and (c) vacant land were reclaimed in each of the last three years and how many hectares of such land remain.

Ms Margaret Curran: Figures from the Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey are provided in the following tables. Under the definitions used in the survey, all contaminated land is described as being derelict rather than vacant. The survey does not specifically require the testing of sites for contamination. The tables show vacant and derelict land categorised according to its contamination status.

  Copies of the 1999, 2000 and 2001 surveys are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 20528, 20526 and 20466 respectively).

  Vacant and Derelict Land1 Reclaimed Since the Previous Survey, 19992,3 (hectares)

  


Contamination status 
  

Derelict Land 
  

Vacant Land 
  

Total Vacant and Derelict Land 
  



Known contamination 
  

37 
  

0 
  

37 
  



Suspected contamination 
  

146 
  

0 
  

146 
  



Known or suspected not to be contaminated 
  

105 
  

216 
  

322 
  



Unknown 
  

482 
  

315 
  

797 
  



Total 
  

770 
  

531 
  

1,301 
  



  Vacant and Derelict Land1 Reclaimed Since the Previous Survey, 20002,3 (hectares)

  


Contamination status 
  

Derelict Land 
  

Vacant Land 
  

Total Vacant and
Derelict Land 
  



Known contamination 
  

58 
  

0 
  

58 
  



Suspected contamination 
  

52 
  

0 
  

52 
  



Known or suspected not to be contaminated 
  

110 
  

141 
  

251 
  



Unknown 
  

102 
  

137 
  

239 
  



Total 
  

321 
  

279 
  

600 
  



  Vacant and Derelict Land1 Reclaimed Since the Previous Survey, 20012 (hectares)

  


Contamination status 
  

Derelict Land 
  

Vacant Land 
  

Total Vacant and
Derelict Land 
  



Known contamination 
  

55 
  

0 
  

55 
  



Suspected contamination 
  

43 
  

0 
  

43 
  



Known or suspected not to be contaminated 
  

109 
  

161 
  

270 
  



Unknown 
  

241 
  

182 
  

423 
  



Total 
  

449 
  

343 
  

792 
  



  Vacant and Derelict Land1 Recorded in Scotland, 20012 (hectares)

  


Contamination status 
  

Derelict Land 
  

Vacant Land 
  

Total Vacant and
Derelict Land 
  



Known contamination 
  

1,980 
  

0 
  

1,980 
  



Suspected contamination 
  

1,564 
  

0 
  

1,564 
  



Known or suspected not to be contaminated 
  

899 
  

1,898 
  

2,797 
  



Unknown 
  

2,402 
  

1,865 
  

4,268 
  



Total 
  

6,845 
  

3,763 
  

10,607 
  



  Notes:

  1. The Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey includes only that vacant land which is either located within an urban settlement (with a population of 2,000 or more) or which is located within 1 km of such settlements, which would commonly be considered as having the characteristics of urban vacant land. Vacant or derelict sites covering less than 0.1 hectare are excluded.

  2. Not all local authorities have completed the survey every year. Where a local authority did not complete the survey in the previous year, the amount of land brought back into use by that authority refers to the period since the survey was last completed.

  3. Figures may differ slightly from those presented in the Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey statistical bulletins due to data being revised by local authorities.

Libraries

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many men aged over 50 are employed in public libraries.

Mike Watson: Statutory responsibility for the public library service in Scotland lies entirely with local authorities. Each local authority is responsible for employing their own staff in the library service.

Local Government Finance

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much aggregate external finance would be received by Glasgow City Council in 2002-03 were it to receive a percentage increase in aggregate external finance equal to the average percentage increase in aggregate external finance of other local authorities that year.

Peter Peacock: Glasgow City Council would receive £962.22 million. The council with its financial settlement receives 23% above the Scottish average per head for 2002-03 and is 42%, 8% and 42% above Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh’s AEF respectively.

Museums

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it is providing to the Scottish Maritime Museum in 2002-03.

Mike Watson: The Scottish Maritime Museum is receiving resources of £160,000 in 2002-03 as their share of the funding injection package of £1.26 million over three years announced in December 2000 for the three main industrial museums - the Scottish Fisheries Museum, the Scottish Maritime Museum and the Scottish Mining Museum.

NHS Waiting Lists

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21600 by Malcolm Chisholm on 30 January 2002, whether Lanarkshire Primary Care Trust has been informed that it is unacceptable to refuse to accept a referral and to close waiting lists and whether the trust has confirmed that this practice no longer exists.

Malcolm Chisholm: Lanarkshire Primary Care NHS Trust has been informed that it is completely unacceptable to refuse to accept a referral and to close waiting lists.

Older People

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking in order to provide high quality pre-admission and rehabilitation care for older people to help them live as independently as possible by reducing preventable hospitalisation and by ensuring year-on-year reductions in delays in moving people aged over 75 from hospital.

Hugh Henry: We are tackling these issues on a number of fronts, though not exclusively for people over 75.

  Last year we provided new resources, starting with £24 million in 2001-02 and rising to £48 million in 2003-04, to enable local authorities and their partners locally to develop more responsive home care services that would prevent older people being inappropriately admitted to hospital and support them better on discharge.

  In January, we published the report of the Chief Medical Officer's Expert Group on the Healthcare of Older People, entitled Adding Life to Years. We have since set up an implementation group to drive forward its recommendations and to monitor progress.

  On 5 March, we launched our Delayed Discharge Action Plan requiring local partners to deliver specific, targeted reductions in delayed discharges, underpinned by further new resources of £20 million in 2002-03.

Older People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money the Better Government for Older People programme has received in each year since the programme started to date.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how meetings of the Better Government for Older People network are advertised.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities have signed up to the Better Government for Older People programme.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive where a copy of the constitution and rules for the Better Government for Older People network may be accessed.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether access to meetings of the Better Government for Older People network is open to all older people.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any salaried posts, and the salary of each, in the Better Government for Older People network.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any salaried postholders in the Better Government for Older People network have had any connection with the Labour Party in the past five years.

Hugh Henry: This is a matter for the Better Government for Older People Network. The requested information is not held centrally. I asked the Network Director to write directly to the member. A copy of the reply has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 20755). For information, a copy of the Network’s journal Stratagem and two briefing notes, prepared by BGOP, have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 20573).

Parliamentary Business

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22946 by Ms Patricia Ferguson on 5 March 2002, whether it has ever provided briefings directly to individual non-Executive members for use during debates of the whole Parliament and, if so, (a) when, (b) in respect of which debates and (c) to whom each such briefing was provided.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: I have nothing to add to the answer previously given to question S1W-22946 on 5 March 2002.

Parliamentary Business

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22946 by Ms Patricia Ferguson on 5 March 2002, in what form it records the providing of briefings directly to individual non-Executive members for use during debates of the whole Parliament.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: No central records of the kind referred to are held.

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make any further information available in support of its recommendation on the future of HM Prison Peterhead.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive has provided substantial information in support of our proposals in the Estates Review Consultation documents, but any necessary clarifications will be made available during the consultation period.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison officers currently working at HM Prison Peterhead have worked there for three years or more.

Mr Jim Wallace: The number of prison officers currently working at HMP Peterhead who have worked there for three years or more is 124.

Public Transport

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date planning permission was first sought for the extended park and ride facilities at Croy Station announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning on 21 March 2002; by whom such permission was sought, and on what date such permission was approved.

Lewis Macdonald: Securing planning permission for the extended park and ride site at Croy Station is a matter for the promoter, Strathclyde Passenger Transport. The determination of any planning application will, in the first instance, be a matter for the planning authority, North Lanarkshire Council.

Public Transport

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any local amenities will be lost as a result of the provision of the extended park and ride facilities at Croy Station announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning on 21 March 2002 and what measures will be taken should compensation for loss of any such amenities be required.

Lewis Macdonald: It will be for the planning authority to assess whether there will be any loss of local amenity.

Renewable Energy

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any minister attended the recent global wind power conference in Paris to underline Scotland’s position as the prime wind energy generation site in Europe.

Ross Finnie: No ministers attended the conference. However, Scotland’s interests were ably represented by the Scottish Enterprise Energy Group.

Road Safety

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recent No Speeding Day, what steps are being taken to ensure that messages on safe driving are successfully targeting younger drivers.

Lewis Macdonald: Through the Scottish Road Safety Campaign, the Scottish Executive targets road safety messages at all drivers, including younger drivers.

  The campaign has produced two cinema adverts specifically aimed at young drivers. These will again be screened during 2002-03. The campaign will also be commissioning research to inform the development of a strategy aimed at improving young driver safety.

  Following the publication last year of Scottish Executive research, which found that drug driving was most prevalent amongst younger drivers, the Scottish Road Safety Campaign has developed a TV advert, aimed at raising awareness of police techniques to detect drug driving, which will be launched in May.

  Drink drive publicity over the festive period was targeted at young male drivers, in the light of research which found that they were a key risk group. The publicity featured the "Wheel of Misfortune", which highlights the consequences of being caught drink driving. Further publicity will be carried out in June.

  Road safety publicity undertaken by the campaign is evaluated to determine its effectiveness.

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of Public/Private Partnership schemes to help finance the redevelopment and refurbishment of City of Edinburgh Council schools is a form of privatisation.

Mr Andy Kerr: Public/Private Partnership schemes like the City of Edinburgh Council schools project are not a form of privatisation. They are long-term contractual arrangements for the provision of assets and related services. In such schemes the public sector specifies the services required and pays for them on the basis of results. Under privatisation, responsibility for services is transferred to the private sector with price being the key determinant.

Scottish Executive Publications

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing and distributing Renewing Local Democracy; The Next Steps .

Peter Peacock: Details of the full costs of publishing the document and summary are not yet available but the final cost is expected to be around £6,500. I will write to the member with this information once it is available and place a copy in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the wind-up of the Scottish Transport Group pension funds and the making of ex-gratia payments to pensioners.

Lewis Macdonald: I confirmed to Parliament on 7 March 2002 that the trustees had begun the formal procedures required to complete the wind-up of the pension schemes. These procedures are now well advanced.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what amount of money remains in the Scottish Transport Group pension funds surplus and when the Scottish ministers expect to receive that money from the trustees.

Lewis Macdonald: The total surplus (net of tax) remains with the trustees at this time. The Executive expects to receive the surplus on completion of the audit of the STG pension scheme accounts.

Sheltered Housing

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many properties were converted into sheltered housing complexes by social landlords other than local authorities and by private developers in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001.

Iain Gray: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Sheltered housing is now classified as supported residential accommodation on an individual or group basis. The number of unit approval rehabilitations by Registered Social Landlords in the period 1999-2000 to 2001-02 were:

  


1999-2000 
  

Rehabilitation 
  



Supported Residential 
  

27 
  



2000-01 
  

Rehabilitation 
  



Supported Residential 
  

17 
  



2001-02 
  

Rehabilitation 
  



Supported Residential 
  

3 
  



  No information is held on provision by private developers.

Sheltered Housing

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new sheltered housing complexes were built by social landlords other than local authorities and by private developers in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001.

Iain Gray: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Sheltered housing is now classified as supported residential accommodation on an individual or group basis. The number of new build unit approvals by Registered Social Landlords in the period 1999-2000 to 2001-02 are:

  


1999-2000 
  

New Build 
  



Supported Residential 
  

148 
  



2000-01 
  

New Build 
  



Supported Residential 
  

173 
  



2001-02 
  

New Build 
  



Supported Residential 
  

78 
  



  No information is held on provision by private developers.

Tourism

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the hotel and bed and breakfast sector is being robustly marketed.

Mike Watson: This is an operational matter for VisitScotland. However, all accommodation providers who are members of an Area Tourist Board will benefit from both brochure and internet based publicity. They will also be featured in VisitScotland promotional activity.

Tourism

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been required to change its strategy on boosting golf-related tourism following the events of 11 September 2001.

Mike Watson: The promotion of golf related tourism is an operational matter for VisitScotland. They have vigorously promoted Scotland’s golf product and will continue to do so.

Trade Unions

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the First Minister what social and economic benefits the concordat between the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Trades Union Congress will bring.

Mr Jack McConnell: It will deliver improved partnership working across a wide range of public policy issues. Partnership working will help secure a more prosperous economy, and better and more efficient public services.

Water Charges

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23615 by Allan Wilson on 12 March 2002, whether it will provide a definition of income which will be contained in the regulations providing for the exemption from water and sewerage charges.

Allan Wilson: The Water and Sewerage Charges (Exemption) (Scotland) Regulations 2002, made on 27 March 2002 and which came into force on 1 April 2002, provided a definition of net annual income. This was defined as any income received by a person liable to pay water and sewerage charges, less:

  Any funds raised and paid over by that person as a donation to a charity;

  Any funds raised and paid over by that person to a parent organisation, and

  Any grant paid to that person under any enactment for the purposes of capital expenditure.

Wildlife

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is now able to produce a timetable for the introduction of legislation on wildlife protection.

Allan Wilson: The Executive intends to come forward with legislative proposals at an early opportunity and we will publish a draft nature conservation bill, based on the proposals contained in the policy statement, The Nature of Scotland , as soon as possible.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Access to the Parliament

Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer what provisions the Parliament makes for people who visit the Parliament who are (a) deaf, (b) deafblind and (c) have hearing difficulties.

Sir David Steel: Details of all of the services provided for disabled people who visit the Parliament can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/welcoming_you/disability.htm.

  The Participation Services team are available to discuss customer requirements and to recommend services or visit options as appropriate to individual need.

Parliamentary Expenditure

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer how much the Parliament spent on (a) postage and (b) stationery in each year since 1999-2000.

Sir David Steel: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has spent the following amounts in the last three financial years on postage and stationery:

  

 

1999-2000
(£000) 
  

2000-01
(£000) 
  

2001-02 (11 months) (£000) 
  



Postage 
  

289 
  

196 
  

223 
  



Stationery 
  

209 
  

173 
  

148 
  



  Notes:

  1. Postage covers all parliamentary postage, including the postage element of prepaid envelopes.

  2. Stationery includes all items ordered through the parliamentary stationery contract, plain paper and printing consumables.

  3. These figures do not include amounts spent by members through the Allowances Scheme.